


White to Red

by lovelesswonder



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Kind of Crackish, M/M, Out of Character, Spirit!Nico, Spirit!everyone basically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 10:29:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3205934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelesswonder/pseuds/lovelesswonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all started with one simple request from his sister. Now, Nico was on Earth, stalking a mortal because of a deal from Aphrodite. All he has to do is get Percy to believe in love again. However, will he be the one falling in love?</p>
            </blockquote>





	White to Red

January 30th  
“THAT IS IT!” Aphrodite shrieked as she watched Percy Jackson somehow dodge another arrow fired by one of her cupids. “FOR THREE YEARS HE HAS BEEN DODGING MY LOVE ARROWS! THREE! BUT NO MORE! THIS VALENTINE’S DAY, PERCY JACKSON WILL SUCCUMB TO THE POWER OF LOVE!” She laughed maniacally as she devised plans to cause Percy Jackson to fall in love.

“Um, Lady Aphrodite?” Silena, the head cupid timidly spoke up.

“What is it?”

“You’re scaring all of the trainees.” The brunette gestured to the cherubs that were cowering behind her. “Could you please try to restrain your excitement?” Drawing in a deep breath, Aphrodite nodded and stilled. After the boy had reached The Age (16, the age when Aphrodite’s arrow could pierce the hearts of humans), Aphrodite had a cherub assigned to the boy. The cherub, a first year, had a preference for the whole “best friends in love” thing, and apparently shot the boy and his best friend in the heart. Of course, the two were too much like siblings and the relationship ended in flames and broken hearts. The matter was brought to Aphrodite’s attention, and she just sent assigned another cherub to the boy. When she was informed of how the mortal kept deflecting her arrows, she assigned a cupid to him. When the boy continued dodging the arrows, she assigned herself to Percy Jackson. Of course, no matter how many arrows she shot at him and various people, he was able to dodge them, and pretty soon, Percy Jackson had his own fan club. But it didn’t matter about the failures. What matter was Aphrodite’s new weapon.

“You may have been able to dodge my Love Arrows, Percy Jackson, but you can’t dodge my ULTRA-LOVE ARROW!” Aphrodite whipped out her newly designed arrows happily.

  
“How does it work?” Silena inquired as the cherubs slowly went out of hiding.

“Well, it’s quite simple.” Aphrodite handed the arrows to the cherub nearest her and proceeded with her explanation. “What you do is point the arrow at your target and press the button. It has all the latest technology on it and will not miss its target!” At that moment, Aphrodite felt something fly pass her, and when she looked down at the Earth, she saw the arrow hit an old man dead in the heart.

“It works!” The cherub squeaked happily as she watched the old man begin wooing the young waitress.

“My…my arrow.” Aphrodite felt like bursting into tears. “All of my planning, all my hard work. RUINED!” Aphrodite dramatically sank to the floor in anguish.

“Lady Aphrodite, please keep your emotions in check. You know that all of your cupids experience the same emotions as you do, and they’re causing mayhem down on Earth.” A cool, collected voice cut through her theatrics. Aphrodite peered up and made a face as she saw the Halloween Spirit standing above her.

“Nico.” She greeted coolly.

“Lady Aphrodite.” The spirit raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to tell me why more than 100 couples are now running around and crying like it’s a soap opera? All the stomping around is messing with the Groundhog’s mind, and you know how waking up at the wrong time could be detrimental.” Nico grumbled as he perched on a table. At this, Aphrodite pouted.

“My holiday is the most important one in this month. Who cares about Frank and his sleeping patterns?”

“Don’t let Hazel hear you say that.” Nico rolled his eyes. “Anyways, why are you so…enthusiastic?”

“Him.” Aphrodite pointed at an unsuspecting Percy.

“Please don’t tell me you fell in love with a mortal. You already have a mate! Wait, scratch that. You have two! And you know that the only way for you to have a mortal as a mate is to transform him into a spirit, and we have enough spirits already!”

“I know all that! And for you information, I did not fall in love with a mortal! This is Percy Jackson. None of my arrows have been able to pierce his heart for three years! Three! That’s why I designed the Ultra-Love Arrow. It was supposed to be strong enough to get to him, but somebody shot it.” Aphrodite complained.

“None of your arrows have been able to pierce his heart?” Nico tapped a finger against his chin in contemplation. “Doesn’t that mean that he-“

“DON’T SAY IT!”

“-doesn’t believe in love anymore?” Nico finished, his eyebrow raised in a challenge.

“…YES! I KNOW IT MEANS HE DOESN’T BELIEVE IN LOVE ANYMORE!” Aphrodite resisted the urge to stamp her foot.

“So why are you going through all of this then?”

“Because his heart is meant for love.” Aphrodite sighed. “I can deal with criminals losing their belief in love, but to have a pure-hearted kid like Percy lose faith in love? I can’t bear it. I’ve seen inside his heart, Nico. It has all this space for a special someone, but I can’t give him that someone because HE. DOESN’T. BELIEVE. IN. LOVE.”

“Calm down, Aphrodite.” Nico rolled his eyes. “First of all, what made him stop believing in love? Second of all, just go down and make him believe in love again.”

“I don’t really know what happened. All I know is that his first relationship with Annabeth ended horribly, and he doesn’t believe in love anymore. The cherub that shot them didn’t tell me anything else. Also, you know I’m not allowed to go down to Earth right now.” Aphrodite pointed out. Whenever it got close to a spirit’s holiday, their powers grow stronger, and as a result, they were banned from going down to Earth and influencing more people to celebrate their holiday. The more value a holiday has the more power that type of spirit gets.

“Then just send somebody you trust to do it.” Nico suggested. “Send Silena down to find out what happened and get him to believe in love again.”

“I would do that, but I need all of my cupids with me! You know the cherubs have poor aim. I don’t want to mess up Valentine’s Day!” Aphrodite paused to ponder about who she could send down instead. “Nico, what are you doing today?”

“What? Nothing. I was going to go find a haunted house and rest there, but Hazel caught me and started complaining about how all the racket you were making was keeping Frank up.” Nico replied in confusion.

“Perfect! You can go down in my place!” Aphrodite clapped her hands with glee. “Thank you!”

“What? I didn’t agree to that!”

“You’re so kind, Nico!” Aphrodite beamed before disintegrating the cloud Nico was standing on and dropping him to Earth. “Now that I’ve dealt with that, let’s look at the love book. Ooh, what do you think of Doctor Kingsley and Dentist Smith?”

 

 

January 30th, on Earth  
“Please, Nico! You have to go up and calm Lady Aphrodite down! If Frank wakes up at the wrong time, there could be a miscalculation in the weather!” Nico mimicked his sister. “Why is it every time I do somebody a favor, I get saddled with another one?” Nico huffily kicked a stone. “How exactly am I supposed to find this Percy Jackson anyways?”

“Um, I’m right here?” A small voice answered, and Nico whirled around to see the human squatting on the ground. “Why are you looking for me?”

“Why are you on the ground?” Nico blurted out. A small blush rose onto the man’s face, and he wordlessly held up a fur ball. “A cat?”

“It’s a kitten. I heard it crying, so I went to investigate. It was all by itself, and it’s freezing out here. I think it was abandoned since there weren’t any other kittens around it.” Percy cooed as he petted the shivering kitten. Nico peered closer at the cat before pointing a finger at it accusingly.

“LEO?!”

“This is your kitten?!” Percy’s head shot up, and he glared at Nico. “You really shouldn’t be leaving your pets in a cardboard box in the middle of winter, you know. It’s highly-“  
“No, no, no! It’s not my kitten. It’s my uh, my friend’s friend’s cat. Her friend just recently moved to a no-pets apartment, so I was um, looking for him. It seems like you found him first.” Nico chuckled nervously before snatching the cat from Percy’s hands.

“Oh. Is that why you were looking for me?”

“…yes.”

“I bet you were pretty confused when you were told to find me. It’s just that I have a tendency to find lost animals, so people usually just come to me.” A small smile came onto Percy’s face.

“So you like animals?”

“I do, but my apartment doesn’t allow pets either. I just…I just can’t leave them, you know?”

“So what do you do with them?” Nico winced as sharp little teeth sank into his finger.

“I usually leave them at Grover’s house. He’s fond of animals too, and he helps me find homes for them!” Percy’s eyes lit up with happiness at the thought of a stray finding a home. “I would take them to a shelter, but they can only keep so many animals.”

“I see.” Nico lightly pinched Leo’s neck as the Prankster Spirit wriggled. “Well, I should get Leo home and warm him up. I’ll see you around. Bye.” Nico gave Percy a strained smile before walking off. A few blocks away, he walked into an alley and dropped Leo down. Immediately, the kitten transformed into a more human form.

“Did you have to pinch me so hard?” Leo whined.

“You bit me.”

“You were choking me!”

“Why are you here?” Nico sighed.

“Well, after you left to go visit Lady Aphrodite, Hazel began to worry about your virtue and what not, so I decided to go find you while Hazel soothed Frank. Imagine my surprise when I felt your energy on Earth instead of in Cloud 10! So I popped down to Earth and landed in a box. It really hurt, so I may have yelped a bit, and I guess that boy heard me and came to investigate. I just changed into a kitten without thinking.” Leo explained. “So why are you here?”

“Lady Aphrodite wants me to find out why Percy Jackson had stopped believing in love, and then persuade him to believe again.” Nico told him.

“That seems like a challenge. So what’s our plan of action?”

“Wait, our? Shouldn’t you be heading back to Calypso’s island?”

“Actually, Calypso has been helping Frank and Hazel make sure that he’s on time, so I have three more days before she returns.” Leo informed Nico. “Might as well help you with this. I bet it’s an awesome plan. Are we going to spy on him? Break into his house and find his diary?”

“I don’t have a plan.” Nico grudgingly admitted. “I don’t even know if I’m going to even help Lady Aphrodite with this.”

“If you do, I’ll withdraw my cherubs and cupids from month for the entire week of Halloween.” Lady Aphrodite’s sing-song voice came from a piece of paper on the ground. “Would one of you be a dear and flip the flyer over?” Wordlessly, Leo picked up the dirty flyer and held it up. It was an advertisement for some rom-com movie. Instead of the actress of the movie, Aphrodite’s face was inserted in. “That’s better.”

“…have you been eavesdropping on us?” Nico finally asked.

“What? Of course not! I assigned Gwen to do that! You know, I’m not really into how I look right now.” Lady Aphrodite peered at the plaid dress of the main character. “But forget that. Nico, if you can figure out what truly happened and get Percy to believe in love, I’ll withdraw my darlings from Earth and you can have a terror-filled-no-romance-Halloween week.”

“Done.” Nico grinned. It always annoyed him when couples would go into the cinema and hold onto each other during a horror movie. It’s about being scared, not about make out sessions. “How will I know if he believes in love again?”

“I’ll be sending you a bracelet. Get that on him, and when it changes from white to red, that’s how you’ll know.” Aphrodite answered. At that moment, a plain bracelet fell from the sky and hit Leo on the head. “Oops.”

“And how long do I have for this task?” Nico picked up the bracelet and examined it.

“You have until Valentine’s day.”

“WHAT? How exactly will I do that in 15 days?” Nico spluttered.

“It is kind of impossible.” Leo chimed in.

“Well, if you don’t, then it’s obvious that Valentine’s day is the superior holiday. Ta ta, loves.” Aphrodite smirked before vanishing.

“That sounds like a bargain.” Leo finally spoke up. “Are you going to do it?”

“I would say I would die trying-“

“But from you it just sounds like a cheesy pun.” Leo finished. “Well, we better come up with a plan that’s going to fast and effective.” Leo pondered for a moment. “I guess the logical plan would be for you to get him to trust you, but that takes a long time. What if we fake an accident, and when he’s about to die, you jump in a save him? He’s gotta trust you then, right?”

“…how about we think of something else first?” Nico replied.

“All this thinking is making me hungry. I’m craving for some tuna. We can continue thinking at a restaurant.” Leo suggested. “I’ll even pay!”

“You mean you’ll throw a smoke bomb and run out, leaving me with the bill, right?” Nico dryly said.

“Yep!” Leo beamed. “Let’s go!”

 

 

February 1st  
“Nico, Nico, Nico, Nico.” Leo mumbled as he shifted around on the couch. After the two had lunch, Nico rented an apartment in order to remain close to his target. However, two days had passed, and Percy was nowhere to be seen. “I’m bored!”

“Go. Back. To. Calypso.” Nico gritted out.

“I still have one more day left! She’s busy when it’s almost time for the holiday. You know she’s an Earth Spirit and she loves to make everything you know…homey for people.” Leo shrugged.

“Fine. Do whatever you want. I’m leaving.” Nico rolled his eyes before walking out the apartment. “Only one more day, Nico.” He mumbled to himself as he left. Nico wandered out onto the streets and gazed at the people. “Scared of rodents.” Nico observed. As a Halloween Spirit, Nico could “see” the fears of mortals. “Scared of bears. Scared of…everything. Scared of-“

“STOP THIEF!” A shriek called out as somebody bumped into Nico. The two men fell to the ground, and Nico instinctively wrapped his arms around the person.

“Let go of me!” The man hissed, and Nico felt a sharp pain.

“Oh my god! He stabbed you!” A voice screeched. A few seconds later, somebody pulled the man off of Nico, and a familiar face entered his vision. “Are you okay?”

“Percy?”

“You’re that kitten guy! You stopped the thief! And he stabbed you. You’re still bleeding, somebody call the police!” The screaming got fainter and fainter as Nico blacked out.

 

When Nico came to, the first thing he saw was the sea. “What the hell just happened?” Nico groaned.

“You got stabbed.” The sea moved back to reveal a worried Percy. “The thief was trying to steal my mom’s purse, and you stopped him. Thank you so much!”

“It was nothing.” Nico winced as he tried to move. When a spirit wanted to be on Earth (it made influencing humans much easier), they were forced to take on a corporeal body. Of course, having a corporeal body meant you could get hurt and potentially die.

“It really wasn’t! My mom had all her savings in that purse. Is there anything I can do for you?” Percy asked earnestly.

“You can…wear this bracelet.” Nico patted his pocket only to find himself in a gown. “Where are my clothes?”

“Oh, they’re over here.” Percy gestured.

“Could you go get them for me?” Percy dutifully walked over to the pile of clothes. “Look in my pant pockets. The other one.” Nico watched as Percy pulled out the bracelet. “You can wear that.”

“…are you feeling alright?” Percy eyed the bracelet dubiously. “Is it going to shock me?”

“Please just put it on. It’s my um, aunt’s bracelet, and I’ve been looking everywhere for the…right person to wear this. This must be fate or something.” Nico told him. Percy eyed Nico cautiously before nodding in agreement.

“Happy?”

“Ecstatic.” Nico smirked. Just then, the doors to the room flew open, and Leo came stumbling in.

“Nico! I saw you on the news! I take my eyes off of you for one second and you go and get stabbed? YOUR SISTER WILL KILL ME!” Leo grabbed Nico’s shoulders and shook him. “I’ll be vanquished! Scared beyond belief! I- Hey! Percy!” Leo let go of Nico to grab Percy’s hand. “How are you?”

“Do I know you?” Percy gently extracted his hand from Leo’s enthusiastic grip.

“I-“

“He’s Leo. The kitten you found was named after him, and I just told him about you.” Nico glared at Leo. “You have the greenest eyes, and I guess he was just smart enough to make that assumption.”

“Yes. That’s right. I’m smart.” Leo smiled innocently.

“Well, um. I guess I’ll go tell the nurses you woke up.” Percy edged towards the door. “You two can catch up or whatever.” He told them before disappearing. As soon as he left, Leo grabbed Nico again.

“DO YOU KNOW HOW-“

“Shush!”

“-dead I would be if I had to tell your sister you freaking vanished. I would be six feet under!” Leo ranted. “Well, I would be dissipated as well, actually. Seriously, can you not survive on Earth or something? I know you’re usually a spirit and haunting a house or something, but here on Earth, walking into a knife would mean you DISAPPEARING!” Since Nico was a spirit, if he had “died”, he would just simply disappear.

“It’s not like I walked outside and decided to get stabbed, Leo.” Nico rolled his eyes. “Shouldn’t you be making your way back to the island now? It’s almost evening.”

“Frank won’t come out until it is tomorrow morning.” Leo fumed. “I’ll go informed Hazel of your ‘accident’” Leo spun on his heel and stalked out. Seconds later, Percy sidled back in.

“Is your boyfriend mad at you? I could explain how this was my fault?” Percy played with the hem of his jacket insecurely.

“What boyfriend are you talking about?” Nico blinked. “And you weren’t the one that stabbed me.”

“Um, Leo? He’s not-never mind. I just feel responsible for it.” Percy lowered his eyes.

“Don’t be. I’m glad could help you.” Nico smiled. When Nico had saw Percy for the first time, he saw Percy’s deepest fear, which was his mother getting hurt, whether it be physically, emotionally, financially, etc. It was rare to meet a human with such a selfless fear.

“Still, I feel like I should repay you somehow. Wearing this bracelet really isn’t enough thanks for what you’ve done.” Percy tapped the bracelet lightly.

“Well then, how about we grab lunch together then?”

“But your wound-“

“-is only a flesh one. It’ll heal.” Nico replied. After this incident, Percy was bound to trust him, right? Now all he had to do was get information from Percy and set him up with somebody.

“If-if that’s what you really want.” Percy blushed. “But the only day I’m free is Friday.”

“Sounds perfect.” Nico replied, and it wasn’t a lie.

 

 

February 1st, later in the day  
“Wooooow.”

“Shut up, Leo.” Nico growled angrily.

“Woooooooooow.”

“Leo! Shut up!”

“Wooooooooooooowwwwwwww.”

“Okay, fine. Just say what you want to say.” Nico groaned as he flopped onto the couch.

“Yes! First of all, good job on getting a date with him.”

“It’s not a date!”

“HOWEVER, I cannot believe you forgot to get his number! And now you just finally realized that you forgot what the restaurant was actually called, so you’re going to end up standing him up. Great job, Nico! Gain his trust and then destroy all that progress!” Leo slow clapped.

“I was distracted!”

“Uh huh. You were distracted. What, you got lost in his ‘lovely green eyes that looked just like the sea’? Or maybe you were mesmerized by his ‘adorably awkward and cute expression’.” Leo let out a giggle. “This is so rich! I can’t wait to see what Hazel does when I tell you about your little cruuuush!” Leo made little kissy faces at Nico.

“I hate you.” Nico groused.

“No, you love me. But not as much as you luuuurve Percy!” Leo cackled before falling to the ground, giggling. With an impatient sigh, Nico aimed a kick at Leo, but since he was lying on the couch, all he could manage was a weak wobble.

“Seriously though, what do I do? I have thirteen days left until this assignment is due. How am I supposed to find him now?”

“Well, remember when you just walked outside to get away from me and you found him? Try that again.” Leo suggested.

“That was just luck. It’s not going to happen again.” Nico sighed. Briefly, he debated whether or not he should try it again, but he quickly discarded the thought.

“Ooooh, a lovesick sigh! Things are getting ser-ri-ous!” Leo laughed. “Okay, let’s put an ad in the newspaper then. Or a billboard! He’s bound to see a billboard right? It can say something like: I lost the love of my life.”

“Go. Away.” Nico half-heartedly told Leo. “Wait, do you think Aphrodite will be able to help me find him?”

“Of course she would!” A small voice piped up, and Leo let out a shriek. A cherub suddenly materialized in the middle of the room.

“Whoa. Where’d you come from?” Leo squeaked in shock.

“I’m the cherub assigned to watch over you.”

“…Gwen?” Nico guessed. The cherub nodded enthusiastically.

“You know, I never really got the difference between cupids and cherubs.” Leo mused.

“Cherubs are basically cupids in training. Cupids have stronger love powers, while cherubs only have the basic ones.” Nico told him. He once had to sit through a very long lecture about that when he accidentally scared a cupid and mistook her for a cherub.

“Moving on!” Gwen cut in. “Aphrodite has a mirror that can find anyone in the world. You just have to be really specific or it’ll show you a random person with the same name. Would you like me to take you there?” Nico weighed his options. He could go see Aphrodite again and find out Percy’s location, or he could leave it to fate.

“No, thank you.” Nico waved her off. “I’m just going to go outside. However, you’re welcome to stay and inform Leo about the difference between cherubs and cupids.” Nico chuckled evilly as he exited the room. Once outside, Nico glanced around and tried not to feel disappointed when he didn’t see a familiar brunette.

“Hey!” Nico turned around quickly and had to squash down the urge to feel disappointed when it was a stranger. “You’re the guy that got stabbed right?”

“Yes.” Nico cautiously nodded. The red head beamed before grabbing his arm.

“Percy has been talking about you constantly!” The girl rolled her eyes. “I’m Rachel, by the way.”

“You know where Percy is?” Nico resisted the urge to fist pump. Ha, he didn’t need Aphrodite’s help. Fate was kind to him.

“Well, yeah. Why?”

“I realized that I never got his number, and I forgot what the restaurant’s name was.” Nico rushed out.

“Well, you’re in luck today. I’m actually on my way to meet Percy right now. Come along.” Rachel ushered him, and after walking a few blocks, they ended up in front of an animal shelter. “Percy likes to volunteer here in his free time. It was either here or at the pool, but the pool’s not open during the winter.” Rachel walked through the area before bellowing out Percy’s name. Seconds later, a disheveled Percy poked his head out.

“What is it- Nico!” A pleased smile came onto Percy’s face. “What are you doing here?”

“Look at that! Time to go!” Rachel chirped and then left. As she walked past Nico, she winked at him.

“I realized that I never got your number, and I also forgot the name of the restaurant we were supposed to meet at.” Nico told Percy.

“Oh. Well, I mean, since you’re already here, we can go eat now.” Percy suggested, his eyes lighting up. Nico almost agreed before remembering the Prankster Spirit in his room.  
“I can’t.” He reluctantly told Percy. “I have a pesky kid to watch right now.”

“Well, the restaurant is called Azul. We’re meeting there Friday, right? At 12? Here’s my number in case something comes up.” Percy grabbed a sticky note and scribbled on it.

“Yes and yes. I’ll see you then, Percy.” Nico smiled before leaving. Everything was going according to plan.

 

 

February 6th  
“Really now?” Nico leaned back in his chair as he listened to Percy. “So your friend cross dressed in order to distract a teacher so you could sneak in and grab a jacket?”

“It was golden fleece jacket! Clarisse had to do it as part of her initiation, so we just helped her.” Percy explained.

“You have interesting friends.” Nico let out a chuckle. The two of them were having lunch at a Greek restaurant, and to Nico’s surprise, he was actually enjoying it. For a person who didn’t believe in love anymore, Percy was a very upbeat and pleasant person.

“You look younger when you laugh.” Percy suddenly blurted out with a small blush on his face.

“How young do I look?” Nico asked out of curiosity.

“You look like you’re twenty.”

“And how old did I look before?”

“You just looked more mature, I guess. How old are you really?” Percy tilted his head in such an inquisitive manner that he reminded Nico of a small animal.

“I’m old enough.” Nico smiled. How do you tell a person that you’re over three centuries old? You don’t.

“You haven’t told me anything about yourself yet.” Percy commented. “It’s mostly been me telling you stuff.”

“It’s because you’re interesting.” Nico lifted a hand to brush some of Percy’s bangs out of his face. All of the sudden, the 19 year old male stood up suddenly. “Percy!” Nico could only sit there in shock as Percy just turned and ran from the shop. “What the hell?” Nico slumped back down in his seat. He thought everything was going so well.

“Mraao.” Nico glanced down to see a very familiar kitten.

“Leo…” He picked up the kitten, paid for the lunch, and walked outside. Once he found a spot hidden from wandering eyes, he dropped the feline. “Did you follow me?!”

“Hazel made me!” Leo wailed from his position on the ground. “Do you know how hard it was to find you? I was finally getting some alone time with Calypso, and your sister forces me to go and watch you because it’s your first date! I couldn’t get into the restaurant as a human, so I had to walk really far and transform! And then I had to walk back! My feet hurt!” Leo ended his short rant with a pout.

“….”

“Don’t look at me like that! Your sister’s scary.”

“You’ve been back for nearly a week and you just now got some ‘alone time’ with Calypso? And it wasn’t a date.”

“Suuuuure. That’s why it took you this long to finally reply. Hey, it’s alright if you’re into mortals. If it gets really serious, we can take it to the council and try to make him into a spirit.” Leo placed a hand on Nico’s shoulder comfortingly. “Besides, Calypso has to help Aphrodite with her freaking holiday, so I just sat in the corner and watched her do her thing. She takes a break every few hours.”

“You know turning a mortal into a spirit has a 98% chance of failing.” Nico reminded Leo. After all, it was quite hard to find a mortal that wasn’t so earthbound that their soul could be powerful without a body. It had been a long time since a mortal was transformed. The last one that was transformed was Heracles; however, that really didn’t count since he was actually part spirit. Usually, when a Spirit has an affair with a mortal, the child is given the elixir as soon as they were born in order to erase their mortal side before it got too strong. However, Hera had dropped Heracles on Earth in a fit of jealousy, and the boy grew to be more mortal than spirit. Nevertheless, he still had his spiritual roots, and transforming him was easy. “Besides, it wasn’t a date.”

“Did you want it to be?” Leo asked.

“If I had spent more time with him, yes. As of now, he has become somebody that I care about and wish will have a happy life.” Nico replied truthfully. Yes, Percy was a sweet, caring mortal that Nico could see himself falling in love with. However, Percy ran off, leaving Nico to think that Percy wouldn’t want him to contact the mortal, which meant that the two would most likely never meet again.

“So that means that I basically came here for no reason? Man, Hazel was so excited that you finally got a date. Did you know she has you monitored?” Leo slowly said. “I’m going back to the island. Good luck with the mission!” Leo beamed before disappearing.

“Monitored?” Nico rolled his eyes before walking off. With no destination in mind, Nico wandered around aimlessly before sitting on a bench in front of a library.

“Are you Nico?” A hesitant voice asked him a few minutes later. Turning around, Nico came face to face with a blonde.

“It depends on why you’re asking.” Nico lazily turned back to look at the street.

“I’m Annabeth. I don’t know if Percy has told you anything about me, but he’s told me a lot about you. I have to say, his descriptions are pretty good.” When Nico heard her name, his eyebrow went up. This was Percy’s first and last girlfriend? Wasn’t their relationship the relationship that caused Percy to lose belief in love? If it was that bad, how come they were still friends? “I thought you two were supposed to be having lunch together.”

“We were, but then he ran off.” Nico told her. He wanted to ask her all his questions but figured that it would make her suspicious.

“That idiot.” Annabeth sighed. “I’ll go talk to him. Anyways, it was nice meeting you!” The girl smiled before walking away. Left alone, Nico leaned back and watched the people pass by. Out of habit, he began murmuring their fears out.

“Scared of heights. Scared of dying. Scared of being alone. Scared of-“

“Only a spirit would be able to see the fears of mortals. But if you’re a spirit, how come you’re out in the open?” A hand grabbed Nico’s arm, and he blacked out.

 

 

February 6th, later during the day  
When Nico came to, the first thing he saw was the sea. A very angry sea. “Uuuuhhh.”

“What business do you have with my son?” The sea moved away to reveal a fuming man. Before answering, Nico glanced around the room to see if he had any escape routes. His eyes fell onto a gleaming trident, and a light bulb went off.

“Lord Poseidon?!” Nico gaped. This was the first time he had ever come face to face with an elemental spirit. Of course, his father was one, but Nico hadn’t seen his father since he was born, so that didn’t really count.

“Don’t try to change the subject, boy!” Poseidon glared at Nico angrily.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be causing a monsoon somewhere?” Nico couldn’t wrap his head around why an elemental spirit was standing in front of him. There were only three true elemental spirits. Poseidon was the spirit of earth and water, Zeus the spirit of air and water, and Hades the spirit of fire and earth.

“I was, but then I was informed of your presence near my son! I want to know what your intentions are!” Poseidon grabbed Nico and began shaking him. “TELL ME YOU INCOMPETENT BRAT!”

“…WHO ARE YOU CALLING INCOMPETENT, YOU PROMISCUOUS SPIRIT?!!” Nico shrieked as his head wobbled back and forth. With every passing second, he felt more and more woozy.

“What the- Dad? NICO? WHAT’S GOING ON?” A very familiar voice screamed. Instantly, Poseidon’s hands were off of Nico. Looking up, Nico felt utterly confused by what was going on. Percy, along with Annabeth and some guy, was standing there, each looking shocked. “Dad! What’s Nico doing here?”

“You told me that you felt some spiritualty in him. I had to investigate.” Poseidon looked chastised.

“Investigating doesn’t involve kidnapping somebody!” Percy frowned before walking over to Nico. “Are you alright?”

“What. Is. Going. On.” Nico managed to say. He was so bemused. How did Percy know Poseidon? Who was that guy with Percy? Nico glanced at the bracelet and let out a small sigh of relief when he saw that it was still white.

“Um, I-“

“WHY DON’T YOU TELL ME WHY YOU’RE HERE FIRST, HUNTER?” Poseidon screeched.

“My name isn’t Hunter! It’s Nico! Niiiiicoooo.”

“He meant, are you here to hunt us?” Annabeth cut in, glaring at Poseidon.

“….Why would I hunt you? I don’t eat mortal flesh. Nor do I have a need for a human trophy.” Nico raised an eyebrow. This was all very strange. He still had no idea what was going on. All of the sudden, the door to the room blew open, and Leo dashed in.

“NICO, STOP GETTING INTO TROUBLE! Lord Poseidon?” Leo paused, blinking at the spirit in confusion. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be causing a monsoon somewhere?” A vein started popping on Poseidon’s head.

“I DON’T ONLY CAUSE MONSOONS!” Poseidon pouted.

“Okay, okay. Stop. Just stop.” Percy raised a hand up, and the nose diminished. “Let’s try this again. Nico, are you here to hunt down half-bloods?”

“…What’s a half-blood?” Leo whispered. Nico glanced at him and shrugged.

“A half-blood is a person who has spiritual and mortal humans.” Annabeth informed them. “We’re all half-bloods.”

“Huh. We call you guys Fusers in the spirit world.” Leo mused. “Because you’re a fusion of spirit and mortal? Why would you say half-blood? Technically, spirits don’t have blood. It’s only when we take on a corporeal form that we have ‘blood’. Even then it’s not really blood. It’s like spiritual energy in liquid form.”

“Really?” Annabeth look intrigued. “How does-“

“Wait, you guys are spirits?” Percy asked. “Full spirits?”

“Well, I mean we used to be fusers, but then we were transformed, so yes. Full spirits!” Leo beamed. Percy and his friends let out a small sigh of relief. “Why?”

“We had some trouble with um, fusers, trying to eradicate us.” Percy mumbled. “They were part of some cult that believed that killing a thousand fusers will transform a fuser into a spirit. That’s why I ran out during lunch. I can sort of feel when a person has spirit uh, origins, so I had to leave and alert my dad.” He gestured to Poseidon.

“Dad?” Nico glanced at Poseidon. “Wait, dad?!”

“Haha, Percy and you are spirit cousins!” Leo giggled.

“Spirit cousins?” Percy looked confused.

“Wait, you’re one of my kin’s children?” Poseidon looked gleeful. “That means they lost the bet!”

“…you mean that bet from a nearly a century ago where you all agreed to not have children?” Nico asked. “Because your mates were unhappy with your infidelity?”

“Yes! And now that one of my kin has lost the bet, Percy can be transformed!”

“You do know that Nico is over three hundred years old right?” Leo slowly said.

“You are?” Percy looked shocked.

“Darn it!” Poseidon clenched his fist and shook it at the sky.

“Actually, the bet has been over for nearly 2 decades. Zeus already broke it.” Nico restrained a hysterical giggle. Who know that a powerful spirit could act like this? “In fact, he broke it twice.” Next to him, Leo nodded in agreement. After all, it wasn’t a big secret that Zeus had not one, but two children with the same mortal. Both of them were hidden because of Hera’s wrath, so both assimilated into the mortal world.

“WHAT? WHY DOES NOBODY TELL ME THESE THINGS?” Poseidon complained.

“Because you’re always causing monsoons somewhere?” Leo muttered under his breath.

“Wait a second. You said you ran into fuser hunters?” Nico abruptly changed the topic.

“Yes.” Percy answered. “The leader of the fuser hunter moved to our town, and at that time, I didn’t know that the small zap I feel when I touch another fuser meant that that person was a fuser. He and I were really close friends until I learned the truth.”

“Luke basically tried to seduce Percy.” Annabeth bluntly said. “And Percy only liked him as a friend, but for some reason, when he turned 16, he fell heads over heels for Luke.” At that moment, it felt like the last puzzle piece was falling in. “But thankfully, before Luke could take Percy and you know, get his blood, Percy snapped out of it.”

“And then I placed the Mist over him to shield him from all Spirits!” Poseidon butted in, looking proud of himself.

“Wait, I thought Annabeth was your first relationship.” Nico said.

“Well, um, she was-“

“She was his beard since Sally didn’t know about Percy’s preference for the other team.” The other male that came in told them. “But how do you know that?”

“Uh, who are you?” Leo asked.

“Grover. I’m also a fuser. But never mind that. How did you know?” All the eyes in the room turned to look at Nico.

“I…was sent down to Earth by Lady Aphrodite because she wanted to make you believe in love again.” Nico mumbled. “None of her love arrows worked on you after the first one, and that usually means that the recipient has lost faith in love.”

“You were shot by a love arrow? That’s makes more sense than you just succumbing to a teenager’s desire to be loved.” Grover shot Annabeth a cheeky grin. “Turns out you can be wrong.”

“You only came down here because of someone’s orders?” Percy butted in, looking hurt.

“I-no?” Nico tried, but Percy only shook his head and ran out the door. “And there he goes again.”

“Well, it is kind of distressing to find out that your crush only talked to you because he was ordered to.” Annabeth glared at Nico harshly.

“Actually, Nico’s developing a crush on Percy too!” Leo piped up. “I mean, it’s a small one right now, but it’ll definitely become huuuuuuge later on!”

“Thank you, Leo.” Nico stared at the wall resolutely. After this whole situation got sorted out, he was going to find the most haunted house in the continent and hide there. Ghosts were good company. Spirits and humans weren’t.

“Well then, go after him!” Annabeth shoved Nico.

“I don’t know where he went!” Nico argued. Annabeth rolled her eyes and pulled out a small pearl. She got into a pitcher’s position, and before Nico could react, she threw it at him, and bubbles exploded everywhere. When the bubbles faded, Nico was in someone’s bedroom. Slightly worried Nico ran to the door, and threw it open to come face to face with a shocked woman.

“Who are you?” The woman asked, looking confused. “Are you one of Percy’s friends?”

“You know Percy?” Nico asked, hope fluttering in his chest.

“I would hope so seeing that I gave birth to him.” The woman smiled wryly. “I’m Sally.”

“You’re Percy’s mom? Do you know where he is right now?”

“He said he was going to visit his father.” Sally told him. “I don’t know when he’ll be home.” Just then, the sound of a door opening was heard.

“Mom, I’m back!” Percy’s voice seemed to have a tone of sadness in it.

“Turns out it would be now.” Sally turned to go towards her son.

“Wait! Can you keep it a secret about me being here? I’d like to surprise him.” Nico blurted out. He had no doubt that if Sally told Percy about him being here, the fuser would turn around and go somewhere else. A thoughtful look came onto Sally’s face, and she nodded in agreement. Her footsteps faded, and Nico slipped back into Percy’s room to hide in the closet.

“Mom, you’re kind of creeping me out. Stop smiling like that.” Percy shook his head as he walked into the room. As soon as the green eyed male closed the door, Nico leapt out and tackled him onto the bed. “What the- Stop!”

“Percy.” Nico grabbed Percy’s flailing arms and pinned them onto the bed. “Percy, calm down! It’s me! Nico!” Nico grunted as a foot connected with his stomach. As soon as Percy recognized him, his movements stopped.

“What are you doing here?” Percy hissed once he calmed down.

“Well, to be specific, I’m in your room because Annabeth threw a pearl at me and transported me here.”

“Of course. Why did Annabeth throw a pearl at you?” Percy rolled his eyes.

“I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding. Look, yes, I made an agreement with Aphrodite to find out why her arrows didn’t work on you, but she also wanted me to help you believe in love again, and I’m hoping that I would become the reason you believed in love again.” Nico finished, cringing on the inside. There was a reason why he wasn’t a cupid.  
“Is that your way of asking me out?” Percy asked, delight in his voice.

“…yes?”

“Then yes.” Percy smiled shyly. “I would like to go out with you.”

 

 

February 14th  
“Stupid Poseidon and his stupid mist that caused my arrows to miss.” Aphrodite fumed as she looked down at the Earth. “Damn you Nico!”

“Lady Aphrodite? Shouldn’t you be happy? I mean, it is your holiday after all.” Silena asked cautiously as she watched Aphrodite pout.

“I ammm! But now I have to pull all of my sweet cupids from Earth when it’s Halloween!” Aphrodite glared. “If only Poseidon hadn’t butted in….” She sneered. After Nico had sorted out the whole situation, he gleefully went to Aphrodite to inform her that he had fulfilled his side of the deal.

“I made Percy believe in love, so no cupids!” The brat had snickered.

“It doesn’t count if he never lost faith in love in the first place!” Aphrodite had tried to counter, but in the end, she agreed to withdraw her cupids. Sighing, she glanced at the happy couple in the café. “Damn you Nico.” She growled fondly before getting up. “Come on, lovelies, let’s continue with the arrows!” Aphrodite called. Before she left, she cast one last look at the red bracelet on Percy’s wrist. “Good luck, brat.” She whispered as she walked away. “You’ll need it.” An evil grin came onto her face. “MUA-HA-HA-HA!”

“You’re scaring the trainees!”

“Drat.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know. I was binging on anime, and voila. This baby was born. It was either this or a cross dressing Nico that was forced to go on a date dressed as his sister because of a misunderstanding. Who am I kidding, I started writing that one too.  
> Oh well, hope you enjoyed it! :]


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